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10 Items on my Summer Bucket List

BBQ- A Summer Essential!

Summer is quickly approaching, and I can’t wait! We had a fairly challenging winter, you can read about it in this post and this one too ! So now I am on to summer. I must say, I am not a lover of extremely hot weather. We sometimes get up around 105 or really hot days 108, nope, I am not a fan. But, what I do love is all of the sights, sounds, and smells of summer! There is so much to do, and it seems like every year, we all take a breather from the hustle and bustle of life for just a bit. We take moments to relax and spend time with family. To share stories and make new memories. That is the part of summer that I truly love. So, with that in mind, I thought I would share the 10 Items on My Summer Bucket List!

Yosemite-

I believe I have confessed this before…but I will again. I live only an hour or so from Yosemite National Park. I have lived here for almost 30 years….and I have never visited Yosemite. I have of course seen amazing pictures of half dome. I have traveled all over the US and visited many National Parks. For instance, only a year ago I traveled all the way to Mt. Rushmore. So, I am pretty sure I can make it the short drive to Yosemite. It is on my bucket list this summer, and will not rest until it is checked off…well, maybe I will rest. 😊You might not live next to Yosemite, but I am sure that you have amazing State and National Parks to visit. My favorite so far is Mt. Rushmore.

Classic Movies

We recently watched The Sound of Music with my 5-year-old granddaughter. It was wonderful to see through her eyes as she learned all that was Maria VonTrapp. In fact, she calls the movie the story of Maria and loves to sing the songs. I didn’t realize how much I missed watching old classic movies, and how much fun it would be to share them with a new generation. So, this Summer we are going to watch through some of our favorite classic movies. We are starting with Oaklahoma, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Little Women.

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Make Homemade Ice Cream

Sometimes my suggestions get ahead of me, and I made the suggestion that we should have a free Homemade Ice Cream Social for our community at church. The idea was accepted and then I realized, I have not made Homemade Ice Cream in quite a few years. My oldest daughter bought an ice cream maker for her grandma, so we have one, but it is a bit dusty. So, this summer I am dusting it off, and trying my old family recipes to see if we can bring new life to an old family tradition. I am sure my family will love practicing and all of the taste tests prior to the Ice Cream Social!

Picnic at the Park

One of my goals is to spend as little money as possible so that I can achieve my financial goals. With that in mind I am looking for inexpensive ways to have great summer fun. One way to have very inexpensive fun is to go to the park. Last summer we had an amazing time at our local school playground park. We had a simple picnic lunch, then played on the equipment and did chalk drawing on the pavement. A few hours in, just when we thought we could not stand the heat the sprinklers came on. The kids ran through the huge field sprinklers and had an amazing time getting soaked and running around. It was free fun and made lots of great memories. After that we went almost every week until the rain and snow took over.

Going through the Sprinklers!

BBQ a lot

A few weeks ago, my oldest son had a great idea. He wanted to have a big BBQ at our house, and the men were going to do all the cooking. WOW! That sounds awesome! Plus, he purchased all the food!!! A few days before he asked if I would send him a list of all the food we would need. On the day of the BBQ he arrived food, briquets, and all the trimmings in hand! We ladies did work on the fruit and veggies inside, but it was really fun to see my sons and their uncle out at the BBQ doing all of the work. It was a great day with our whole family, and lots of tasty food. I plan on having quite a few more BBQ’s before summer is out. It is such an easy way to really feel summery.

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Go to the Lake

This is Dr’s orders! I entered physical therapy recently, and you can read more about that in this post on Self Care. But, one of the suggestions of the Physical Therapist is that I spend a lot of time swimming to help with my injured knees recovery. SO, Dr’s Orders, we must spend a lot of time at the lake. We have quite a few within driving distance, but our favorite by far is Pinecrest Lake. It is a smaller lake, but the views are beautiful, the water is easily accessible, and of course the kids enjoy the ice cream stand.

Playing the Sprinklers

I knew the moment that we saw this Unicorn Sprinkler on Amazon that we would need to be bringing it to live at our house for the summer. As you know we recently had a Unicorn Birthday Party for my Granddaughter , and she loves all things Unicorn at the moment! SO, since we spend a lot of time in the Sprinklers during the summer, and since the old Slip and Slide which we loved died a horrible death at the end of last summer, I thought it would be best to bring the Unicorn Home. The fun thing about Sprinklers at our house is that everyone gets involved. In fact, even the older grown ups take a turn in the sprinklers. It helps everyone cool off, and the kids love watching the grownups enjoy the sprinklers.

Have a Yard Sale

As you have probably read in my posts on Declutter it is a major focus of the year at our house. MY word for the year is REDUCE and that includes removing about 30% of the clutter and extra items from our home. It is making a huge difference in how much easier it is to clean the house, and it is so much easier to find things, and way more comfortable. But, with all of that decluttering, we need to get rid of a lot! So, we are having another yard sale, and donating the proceeds to my daughter’s missions’ trip to Romania. It truly will be a win-win situation!

Focus on Self Care

I have been heavily focused on making changes this year, including being more intentional about Self-Care. I am not going to let the random schedule changes of summer take that away. So, with that in mind, I am going to continue to follow my Self Care Plans, and you can read more about how I do that here.

Celebrate the 4th of July

Finally, I am going to celebrate the 4^th of July fully! I am so thankful that we live in the USA, a free country! I have always loved celebrating 4^th of July, and this year we will again have a big family firework fest! We typically have a big BBQ and picnic, play games, such as 4^th of July trivia, and then in the evening set off fireworks and of course, sparklers. I can’t wait! It truly is a favorite of mine as I shared in this post. From fireworks, to watermelon, to cuddles with my grandbabies, celebrating Independence Day is one of my favorite summer events. Each year our family also watches the musical 1776. We have been watching for probably 40 years, so we all know the words and sing along. It is a great movie that shares the founding of our country. I highly recommend it, which is why I shared the link below.

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I hope you enjoyed reading a little about how I will be spending my summer. What is on your Summer Bucket list? Are you already in the planning stages, or just starting to daydream about what you want your summer to include? Or are you diving in? Whatever it is, I wish you a wonderful Summer, filled with warm memories of time with family and friends.

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Visiting National Parks